Sunday, July 5, 2009

I love ice cream. Or, perhaps I should say I loved ice cream. It is/was my favourite dessert, bar none. In fact, during grad school I developed a very bad habit of too much ice cream and Coke that led to some fairly substantial weight gain (lesson learned: never go to grad school). Since going vegan a good scoop of ice cream has been few and far between. The choices here are fairly limited: Tofutti, So Good, and So Delicious, with the occasional Purely Decadent thrown in there, but they are prohibitively expensive to say the least. While some of these ice creams are good, they always raise a nagging voice in my head reminding me they do not taste as good as the "real" thing. Since reading about new ice creams made with coconut milk I have been wanting to make my own (I have not seen them in the stores here yet). So I was delighted to find a nice looking ice cream maker perched high on a top shelf at the thrift store, its $3 price tag beckoning me. I took it home, washed it up, and made this ice cream. For those who used to eat dairy, this is one of those very firm, fight-to-scoop-it-out-of-the-container, Haagen Dazs-esque ice creams. It is truly decadent and rich, though you can lower the fat by replacing the coconut cream with some other non-dairy milk. I love ice cream again.

METHOD1. Dissolve arrowroot into 1/2 cup of the chocolate soy milk and set aside. Skim cream from the top of the cans of coconut milk and place in a 4 cup measuring cup. If you don't have 2 cups worth, fill missing volume with soy milk, or the leftover water from the coconut milk). Whisk smooth as best you can.2. Combine remaining soy milk and sugar in a saucepan and cook over medium heat, whisking regularly. As mixture cooks, keep stirring arrowroot mixture to make sure arrowroot had totally dissolved. When mixture begins to steam, slowly whisk in arrowroot mixture. Continue to cook and whisk until mixture gets thicker and more glossy (you will see what I mean) and begins to gently bubble.3. Remove pan from heat. Add chocolate chips and whisk until smooth (mixture will be thick).4. Add coconut milk and vanilla and whisk until smooth.5. Let mixture cool, then cover and refrigerate overnight. Make the ice cream according to the directions that came with your machine. Let firm up over night in the freezer.

Try also this one;3 bananas cut in slices and freezed, that you put in the processor with 2-3 table spoon of hazelnut ou almond butter ans a spoon of maple syrup if desired. It's divine! Ahd the texture is perfect!

looks great. Ive been vegan for 10 plus years/ I just had some of the purely decadent "cookie dough" ice cream made with coconut milk and it is probably the best vegan ice cream Ive ever had...and Ive had it all.

Oh! I've been on an ice cream kick lately, after discovering the coconut milk ice creams that Purely Decadent have started making (cookie dough - yeah!). They are amazing. The non-coconut milk Snickerdoodle flavor is incredible, too. I have an ice cream maker (from the 70s- still in the family) and plan on making some homemade stuff this summer! Thanks for the reminder!

Hey, I found you through people that are in veganism groups and I am trying to get more people together that are into that. Check out this new website - many members in it, like me, are vegan, and theres groups for it!

Hey Vegan Dad, Have you tried 'Vice Cream'? Author Jeff Rogers shows you how to make gourmet frozen desserts without dairy. Truly amazing, better than Ben & Jerry's or Haagen Daas any day. The secret is blending cashew nuts with water and adding maple syrup. Quite simple and totally delicious. I made a vanilla version and tried it out on my non vegan friends, they were stunned!

Have you tried making either yogurt or ice cream using rice milk instead of soy? There is Rice Dream in the market where I live. But I have never seen vegan yogurt made with anything other than soy milk. My body doesn't like soy very much so I am trying to avoid it as much as possible. If you have any suggestions for using rice milk in either yogurt or ice cream, I'd love to hear them.

Your site if beautiful. Lovely pictures and yummy recipes. Congratulations on a job well done.

question about the coconut milk. I just have to place the two cans in the fridge and scrape off the fatty mixture that is on the top? I just had an icecream disaster because I rushed the process. I will take my time to make this chocolate icecream this weekend.

An easy way to get at the fat is to take the can, hold it over the sink, and pierce the bottom of the can with a can opener. Let the liquid drain off then open the can the whole way and scoop out the fat!